PRODUCTION: Steady

U.S. production was at a fast clip in the
June 27 week, and TIME'S Index ended at 174.6 (estimated), only 0.2
point below the alltime high. Of the Index's three ingredients, freight
carloadings and power production dipped slightly, but steel mills
boomed ahead. Last week they turned out 1,664,600 tons of ingot,
lifting June output to the highest in U.S. history. Thanks to soaring
production in the past six months, shipbuilding (Naval and Merchant) is
now the No. 1 user of steel, this year will use about 10,000,000 tons
of plates and shapesroughly one-sixth of the total fabricated steel
output.